Eagle Eye Mysteries in London is the fun-filled sequel to the 1993 EA Kids hit, Eagle Eye Mysteries. EEML finds super-sleuths Jake and Jennifer staying with their aunt and uncle in London, and when puzzling problems pop up, the kids from the Eagle Eye Detective Agency are there to take the case. The game contains over 50 challenging mysteries filled with fascinating British history, making this an involved and engaging edutainment game for the PC. From Shakespeare to Sherlock Holmes, from Trafalgar Square to the Kensington Gardens, London comes alive, thrilling children and veteran players alike.
Each mystery allows the player to work along with either Jake or Jennifer to interrogate suspects and collect clues, ultimately choosing from the bulk of information collected the best pieces of evidence with which to solve the case. Once the case has been closed, an entertaining story appears in the London Times detailing the crime and how you and your partner solved it, often with interesting quotes and pictures, all of which are available for you to go over later in your scrapbook.
With well over 50 mysteries, there is plenty of playing time, and the option to choose what case to tackle according to what fits your fancy is certainly nice. The interface overall is easy to use, primarily consisting of point and
click, and for the early 90s, the graphics aren’t bad, colorful and cute. The dialogue is well-written, and the occasional sound bytes go well with the game, though music in the background would have been a wonderful addition.
If I recall correctly, the original Eagle Eyes Mysteries had an adjustable difficulty setting that the London sequel lacks, and this is somewhat unfortunate because for an adult players, the cases are rather easy and can be completed in 5-10 minutes (though these bite-sized mysteries are certainly nice for lunch break gaming!). Nonetheless, each mystery is full of interesting characters and stories, and there are plenty of cases to keep you busy, so be sure to check this classic out!
This DOS game may require DOS box or another program to run, but I have a Windows XP operating system and had no trouble getting it to play. For the record, Eagle Eye Mysteries in London was designed by Sarah Stocker (responsible for the first Eagle Eye Mysteries), developed by Stormfront Studios (Stronghold, Neverwinter Nights, Al-Qadim: The Genie’s Curse), and released by the EA Kids, a now, alas, defunct offshoot of Electronic Arts.
